“Flora! Look, I made my bunny into a unicorn.” Henry smiled and offered the rabbit to me.
I took the white rabbit into my arms and pet it gently. Between its ears stood a twisted protrusion that looked exactly like a unicorn’s horn. “Wow, this looks awesome. I know some people in my world that would go crazy over this.”
He smiled bigger, stomping his feet in excitement. “You can do it, too. Purpose and knowledge—that’s all it takes. You think about how you want the clay to form and then push it with your mind. Wanna try?”
I frowned. For nearly a month, I’d been taking lessons from a tutor in how to use my elemental manipulation magic, but hadn’t succeeded in doing a single thing with water, fire, air, or earth.
“Forgive my brother, Princess. He’s quite taken with adding horns and antlers to rabbits. You don’t need to prove anything to him.” Kyle snatched his little brother by the shoulders and pulled him to himself. They rolled together in the grass, Henry squealing.
I ran my fingers through the rabbit’s silky fur. Then a finger played along the spirals of the bony protrusion from its head. I attempted to purpose the horn back into the animal’s skull. I pressed it in with my mind, imagining the bone being like clay. When nothing happened, I closed my eyes and thought a little harder. The animal squirmed in my arms, its nails scratching the skin of my forearms until it struggled free.
With a frown, I opened my eyes. The rabbit became a white blur as it dashed toward the nearest bush, spiral horn still fixed—unchanged—upon its head. Henry yelped and bolted after his rabbit.
A sigh escaped me. How had I ever done those things the night Syd had died? The magic had been wrapped up in my emotional state, and I’d hardly had to think about them. Some of them happened without me even thinking about them at all.
A small scream pierced the air just before a splash.
“Henry!” Kyle’s mother shouted, rushing the direction the child had gone, her face ashen.
The three of us in the grass each jumped to our feet and rushed the same direction. My stomach sunk. If the boy was hurt because I’d let the rabbit go, I’d never forgive myself. Then Kyle’s mother cried out, and my blood ran cold.
Chapter 2
The three of us ran in the direction of the shouts. The branches of the willow trees and the bushes on the shore kept me from seeing the water. Henry squealed, and that cry turned to laughter. Confused, I frowned and slowed down slightly. As we rounded the greenery and gained full view of the brook, we found Henry, riding upon a wave of water almost as high as his mother’s height.
“Get down from there!” Henry’s mother shouted with an annoyed glare and a half smile.
Across the water, on the other side of the curved bridge, stood a young man about the same age as Kyle and Declan. His blond hair shone in the sunlight, a wide grin on his face. When he glanced my direction, his brown eyes sparkled. He then moved his hands in such a way that showed he controlled the unnatural wave upon which Henry sat, and set the child down on the shoreline.
“Mommy! I fell into the water. I almost drown, but Liam saved me!” Air suddenly blew through his hair and clothing, contorting his face as whipped around him. Henry giggled.
Across the water, standing next to Liam was another young man, taller and thinner, but still strongly built. His hair was longer, almost shoulder length and ash blond, almost silver.
Kyle’s mother glanced over toward the two young men and shook her head. “Thank you, Seamus. That’s enough.”
The wind around Henry stopped, and he was perfectly dry, though his hair was quite a mess. His mother attempted to smooth it down with the palm of her hand.
A third young man came up and stood with the other two and for a moment they had a conversation. The third had thick, dark red curls, cut close to his head, and a stern expression on his features. He was a bear of a man, much like Declan, but even more sharply cut.
The three of them nodded and started over the bridge, their gazes fixed firmly upon me. Heat rushed to my cheeks. In the human world, I’d spent all my time trying to go under the radar and unnoticed as much as possible. I lived on the streets, or sometimes a cheap motel, and my friends and I stole money and conned people to get by. Now I was supposed to be Fae royalty. And here in their world, I was constantly being watched, judged, and scrutinized.
These young men were no exception, and they approached me like three hungry predators. I involuntarily stepped backward, running into Kyle’s strong chest. He cleared his throat. “Princess, these are the representatives of the other three clans. Please meet Seamus of clan Goithe.”
The long, silver haired young man stepped forward and bowed slightly. Although he seemed the same age as me, he dressed more formally than the other Fae besides the elders. His tunic was long and gray in color, with a high collar. “A pleasure to meet you princess.”
Kyle stepped to the side, so I no longer felt the heat of his body against my back. I instantly missed the warmth. He gestured
